


Day 5 - Rescue

by Accal1a



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Friendship, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Heartbreak, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26988544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accal1a/pseuds/Accal1a
Summary: Uther comes to visit Gaius in his cell during the Great Purge.
Relationships: Gaius & Uther (Merlin)
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949002
Kudos: 3
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Day 5 - Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> To my wonderful Parabatai, Vicky. This is all your fault.
> 
> No 5. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?  
>  ~~On the Run | Failed Escape |~~ **Rescue**

Gaius sat somewhat despondently on the straw of the cell he had been unceremoniously thrown into. The fact that he could manage to get out of the cell easily was belayed by the guard standing outside staring in at him, hand on his sword, narrowing his eyes at the slightest movement.

"I'm not going anywhere." He finally said.

"Quiet, sorcerer!" The guard spat.

Gaius sighed. The man's name was Aaron, and Gaius had looked after his family for years, given them help in the form of potions and salves, all made non-magically, and now here he was, forced into a cell by the very people he had helped…he thought that injustice might be the worst of it.

When food was delivered to his cell, it was spat on before it was handed to him, and he sighed again, thinking for a moment that this situation was showing the cruelty of many people. He would never have thought the quiet boy turned man in front of him would act like this. Prejudice in Camelot clearly bred personality changes. Gaius thought that might be the saddest thing of all.

"Leave." The commanding voice of King Uther said.

The guard bowed to the unseen man, then left the dungeon, throwing a look at Gaius of such utter contempt Gaius wanted to wilt under it, but he didn't, he sat up straighter instead.

"Sire." Gaius said once the King had come into view.

"Gaius." The man replied, looking him up and down, taking in the squalor that someone in the dungeon lived under.

Off that look, Gaius smiled wanly, wondering whether Uther had ever been down to the dungeons before, had ever seen the place that he sent people. The place that they withered away and died in, or the place they spent their final days or hours in. Which was exactly where he fit. He would be in this dungeon until he was burned at the stake in the courtyard for all to see. He didn't think that he imagined the look that crossed Uther's face, as if their thoughts were running along the same channels…and wasn’t that the kicker, because he and Uther had always been completely in sync about matters. Which was what made the situation so tragic of course.

Uther didn't seem to quite know what to say after his initial greeting, and he paced a little outside the cell before he spoke.

"I am unsure what to do here, Gaius." He finally spoke.

"I think I am no longer in a position to aid you, Sire." The other man replied, with a hint of weariness to his tone, but no malice. Those were the facts, after all.

"You have always been able to be honest with me before." Uther said.

"In this instance I fear that you are wrong." Gaius advised.

"As your King…and as your friend…I would take your guidance on this matter."

Gaius didn’t dignify that with an answer, because seriously at this point what more was there to say? There was nothing that was going to get him out of this situation, save for using magic to remove himself from the situation, and he wouldn’t do that, _couldn’t_ do that, because he wasn’t what Uther thought he was, wasn’t what Uther thought all magic users were. Uther was so blinded by hate that he couldn’t see that some magic users only used their gifts for good, as Gaius always had.

"I do not know what to do here." Uther continued, after a moment.

"Igraine knew…" Gaius started.

Uther raised his hand. "Don't."

"I do not know what you would have me say, Sire." Gaius said, speaking over Uther when he started to speak again. "You have continued this vendetta against those with magic for these many months now, and yet you know that it is unfounded."

"It is _not_ unfounded, Gaius! My wife is _dead_."

"Yes. She is. And you have a son…one you would not have without Nimueh's intervention."

"You forget your place!"

"My place is in the dungeon where you put me." Gaius replied immediately, refusing to back down in the face of the unjustified ire of his King.

Uther stepped back as if he had been physically struck, and it was as if the enormity of what he had done settled onto his shoulders for a brief moment before he shook it off again.

"I would not wish you dead, Gaius. We have been friends for a good many years, and I would not see it end in this way."

"There is no other way, Sire. If you are intent on this action towards any sorcerers, even those who have never harmed you, as I have, then my fate is sealed. I will go to the stake as my brothers and sisters have, burnt in front of yourself and your citizens."

"And if there were a way? A way that you could stay within my court and this castle?"

"I cannot see it…and I do not think I would wish it. Either you believe sorcerers are the root of all evil, or you accept that there are good and bad sorcerers, just as there are good and bad non-magic users. Anything else would be a disservice to my kind."

"Gaius…surely you do not wish to die."

"I do not, but you are not giving me much of a choice." He turned away from his King, a slight that he would not normally give, but he was weary and the conversation was over. There was nothing that could be done.

~~~

After many days, days in which Gaius expected every morning to be the one in which he died, King Uther came to him again.

"Is it time?" Gaius asked without preamble.

"No. It is not. I have come to ask you something."

"Ask." Gaius said, not giving Uther any quarter. He would ask what he would ask, and the decision would still be the same.

"Igraine…" Uther started, and he stumbled slightly on his dead wife's name. "She would want you to live."

Gaius gave his old friend a scathing look at that underhanded sentence. "She would not condone this action you are taking."

"I know." Uther said, quietly. "Which is why I must ask you for this favour."

"Ask." Gaius repeated.

"Would you stay on as the court physician? Would you help this Kingdom and the people in it with your skills?"

"Have you changed your stance on magic?" Gaius said immediately.

Uther's silence was telling.

"Then what could you _possibly_ want from me?"

"Your skills with potions and salves are unparalleled, even without your magic."

"I would have you stay on and help me, help this Kingdom." He raised his hand when Gaius opened his mouth to say more. "I would have you stay on and guide Arthur as he grows."

That was what turned the tide on Gaius' thoughts, because if he could get Arthur to see that magic was not always the hell Uther taught, perhaps in the future Camelot could once more return to the haven it was, before all this happened. It was that thought that made him answer.

"Yes, Sire."

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't intending to write for this Fandom, but here we are I guess?
> 
> ~~~
> 
> Fancy joining a multi-fandom Discord server where you can ~~squee with~~ chat with like minded people? Have I got the place for you!
> 
> Come and join **The Fandom Playhouse**. You don't have to be mad to [join](https://discord.gg/82pvdE39fD), but it does help...


End file.
